Donald Payne, Jr., replacing late father, is sworn in

11/15/12 7:15 PM EST

House Speaker John Boehner (left) performs a mock swearing in for Payne Jr., joined by Payne's wife, Beatrice, Thursday. | AP Photo

Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-N.J.) was sworn in as Congress’s newest member on Thursday to the seat that his father occupied for 12 terms before dying of cancer earlier this year.

Payne, who served as council president in Newark, won a special election earlier this month to complete his father’s term, in addition to a full two-year term in the 113th Congress. The older Payne battled colon cancer for months until March, when he died at the age of 77.

Three other newly-elected members were sworn in earlier this week to complete other vacated terms: Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. David Curson (D-Mich.). Curson won’t return next year; he was only elected to serve out the rest of former Rep. Thad McCotter’s (R-Mich.)’s term.

With Payne’s official arrival to Capitol Hill, only one of the House’s 435 slots are vacant – the seat left open by the resignation of former Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.).